


Figure Larger Than Life (The Nature of Strength Remix)

by snowynight



Category: Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Character Study, Epistolary, Gen, Legends, POV Outsider, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-18 07:17:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11869296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowynight/pseuds/snowynight
Summary: Little Red Riding Hood has captured Mary's fascination so much that she wrote an academic essay about her, but her teacher doesn't agree with her argument.





	Figure Larger Than Life (The Nature of Strength Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Nature of Strength](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2499977) by [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy). 



** Red Riding Hood: A Figure Bigger than Life **

Author: Mary Rossi

Red Riding Hood is a cultural icon who has captured popular imagination of all ages. Her story has inspired fear, mistrust, ridicule, hatred, respect and awe among different people but her name is already a part of our popular culture. In this study, I will discuss the cultural significance of the story of Red Riding Hood in popular culture through investigation of her identity and destiny covered in various accounts and adaptations.

Red Riding Hood: the Story  
  
I do not intend to provide a definite history of Red Riding Hood or bring about closure of debate of her life, as it will be beyond the scope of this study, but I will use the known facts to lay the foundation of her story.

Despite the outline of Red Riding Hood’s story being popularized by numerous media adaptation of her life, it is difficult to trace credible secondary source of her life. The first written record that the scholars believed to refer to the Red Riding Hood is from The Chronicled history of Cinderella County written by Piper:

 

 

> "The fifth year in the reign of Queen Madeline, Spring, March. Wolf attack. A girl killed the wolf."

There is still controversy about the credibility of Piper as a historian and whether this record inspired the story of the Red Riding Hood instead of a proof. Readers interested in the debate could refer to Maple’s informative work: _“Red Riding Hood: Real or Myth?”_   However, we may argue that this particular attack must have stood out enough for Piper to record it as wolves were common in Piper’s time and the only other wolf attack Piper recorded was one that decimated a whole town fifty years before this record.

The details about Red Riding Hood in the years thereafter are scant, as per usual for records of common people. The next time Red Riding Hood is mentioned is in the _Diary in the Stone House_ , published by Mr. Pig:

 

 

 

> I thought I was done for when the wolf pounced strongly enough that the door shook like a piece of leaf. My elder brothers were as pale as milk.
> 
> Then the pouncing stopped.
> 
> We dared not make any sounds as it might be a trick of the wolf to lure us to a false sense of security. We hugged each other and waited.
> 
> A knock to the door. A human girl’s voice. “Are the Pigs here?”
> 
> We hesitated. _Who’s she?_ But I finally opened the door enough that I could see from the gap.
> 
> A girl stood with the bleeding wolf under her boots, her axe stained with blood. “How much do you pay for the wolf?”
> 
> It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen and I paid a generous sum without hesitation.
> 
> “Who’re you? How can we thank you?”
> 
> “Red Riding Hood, monster hunter. Spread the word that I’m in business”.

From then on there are a lot of written and oral accounts about the adventure of Red Riding Hood. The rise of penny dreadfuls helped promoted her popularity, as publishers catered to readers’ interest in reading about her exploit and published many books with her as a titular character. The first dramatized version of her story was published fifteen years after Mr. Pig’s recollection and was tilted _The Bloody Cap_ written by Egbert the Chicken. The writers felt free to exaggerate or even fabricated stories that showed her prowess. For example, in _The Red and Nine-Headed Dragon_ , the Red was said to glide across the sky and cut off every head of the dragon, while the existence of a nine-head dragon was never proved.

Red Riding Hood: the Myth

Folk tales are instrumental to inculcate social norms consciously and unconsciously help them to develop a schema to understand their world and themselves, and myths are common social responses to the unknown. By studying the one hundred, sixty-five samples of narratives about Red Riding Hood, I establish three archetypes of Red Riding Hood in which collectively reveal deeper interpretations consistent with contemporary cultural theory.

**Femme Fatale**

Femme Fatale is a stock character of a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her victim, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. The samples establish Red Riding Hood as a femme fatale by stressing the following characteristics:

  * A beautiful woman with overwhelming charm : A lot of attention is put to Red Riding Hood’s sexual attraction to both monsters and men, sometimes in more depth than the actual plot. Sexual jokes and puns, implicit or explicit sexual threat to Red Riding Hood and cross species attraction are common.
  * Powerful and using her seductiveness to achieve her goals: In those stories, Red Riding Hood never hesitates to use her seductiveness to destroy the monsters, win her bounty and undercut her competitors. The title of one book sum up best this view of Red Riding Hood: _“Kiss me, Fool!_ ”



**She Who Fight Monsters**

In contrast to femme fatales, the stories that embrace this archetype stress how unworldly and fear-inducing Red Riding Hood is, challenging whether Red Riding Hood still maintains her sanity and humanity after her childhood tragedy and years of monster fighting. In those stories, Red Riding Hood is depicted as:

  * A bloodthirsty hunter: In _Night Terror_ , Red Riding Hood’s described as someone who lives only to kill: “Her originally lifeless eyes shone when she hefted her axe into the beasts’ flesh. She chopped it into pieces and laughed throughout her slaughter”. In another book _Who Watch the Axe?,_ Red Riding Hood tears and eats the raw flesh of her preys. When the narrator tries to stop her, Red Riding Hood attacks him and only the distraction of another beast attack saved his life.
  * Supernatural horror: Curse and dark magic are a common theme in those stories. Red Riding Hood is described as needing no food nor water in her tireless pursuit, performing feats that beyond normal human strength. She has various unusual habits that hinted of signs of dark magic. In _The Darkest Night_ , Red Riding Hood reveals that she was actually killed in the wolf attack and is now a living dead, sustained by blood and magic. Monster transformation accounts features heavily in different works, including theories that Red Riding Hood is a secret werewolf.



**Hero**

While this depiction may not be surprising to our reader, it is of interest to note that a higher proportion of writer who endorse this view in their works use neutral or female pen names and a number of them went on to create series starring other female heroes. Further studies are needed to test the hypothesis of a gendered interpretation of Red Riding Hood.

Common characteristics of the stories

  * Forever traveller: It is a common story convention that Red Riding Hood never stays in a place past the death of the beasts. While people may invite or demand her to stay, Red Riding Hood always leaves because “There’re other monsters in the world” (Red’s Hunt, page 99)
  * The Journey and the Unhealable Wound: A lot of works dwell on the impact of the childhood wolf attack on Red Riding Hood, ranging from stone-faced stoicism to lifelong trauma that compels her to her career. However, she’s always depicted as a survivor who overcome the obstacles throughout her journey.
  * Special weapon: It is stressed many times that Red Riding Hood can perform superhuman feats only when wielding the original axe she used to kill the wolf, and no one else other than her can use it to its best ability. This allows a lot of dramatic conflicts in the stories.



Conclusion

At the moment of writing, another new play of Red Riding Hood is on the stage. I believe that her story will continue to inspire and capture people’s imagination so I will end this paper with a poem about Red Riding Hood:

 

 

 

> "Behold the beasts and monsters in the world,  
>  Eyes white as the newly-fallen snow outside the window.  
>  Fangs snarling for fresh and tender flesh.  
>  They come in all kind of clothing:  
>  Fur darkened with blood,  
>  Silver coat and golden belt,  
>  But the Red hefted her axe.
> 
> The wolf with eyes as huge as lanterns,  
>  With claws as sharp as blade.  
>  It salivated while pouncing on a girl with red hood.  
>  But the Red hefted her axe.
> 
> A snarling beast in human skin,  
>  With eyes white as the newly-fallen snow outside the window.  
>  "Be my prey!" He bared his teeth.  
>  But the Red hefted her axe.
> 
> When young maids frolic and laughter under the sun,  
>  The Red pulled bits of gore from her hair and teeth.  
>  When young maids rested in their mothers' care,  
>  The Red prowled the forest in dark.  
>  But the Red hefted her axe.
> 
> Violence and blood  
>  Shape the rest of her years.  
>  Battle scars mark her body and soul.  
>  The haunted house screamed from the torment of blood.  
>  But the Red hefted her axe.
> 
> The respite of childhood long foregone.  
>  Trouble afoot in Cinderella County.  
>  Victims of fear scream for respite,  
>  But the Red hefted her axe.
> 
> Wolves hassling some pigs? Pay well.  
>  Face the road ahead without fear.  
>  The weak shrugging away in fear.  
>  But the Red hefted her axe."  
>    
>  \- The Song of the Red Riding Hood, Author unknown, Collected from Mrs. Grimm from Hadesville, Cinderella County and duplicated with permission.
> 
> * * *
> 
>  

**Teacher’s comment:**

I’ve told you repeatedly that you should focus on your training! Stop wasting your time on those penny dreadfuls (I know your excuse. This doesn’t count as any research about monster hunting. Those books are full of lies anyway as I never eat raw flesh nor have any lifelong trauma. I do what I need to do. ) If you have so much free time to write these things, you can double the amount of your daily weapon training.

**Author's Note:**

> The poem at the end is a found poem based on the original work this remix is inspired by


End file.
